The Leafs Geeks Podcast

Andrew Berkshire from Sportsnet joins us this week to break down the Leafs using some of his proprietary metrics from Sportlogiq.

1:20 - What is Sportlogiq?
4:10 - What can the public do with microstats from private companies?
14:15 - How bad is Gardiner's turnover rate?
20:44 - Dermott's impressive play.
23:33 - Zaitsev's poor play.
27:27 - "The best forechecker in hockey"
36:41 - Shot Quality vs Shot Quantity.
46:25 - Matthews' ability to generate "Royal Road" passes.
52:29 - What should the Leafs do with JVR?
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Dylan Fremlin from MapleLeafsNation joins us this week as we try our best to answer listeners' questions sent in over Twitter. Here's a list of the questions:

1:12 – Is Ian still confident in his 17-goal prediction for Hyman?
4:17 – Should Toronto use forwards on their “off-side” on the PP?
12:43 – What should the Leafs do at the trade deadline?
25:13 – If Toronto buy a centre the deadline, who are some potential targets?
35:06 – In 2-5 years, which teams in the East will give the Leafs the most trouble?
42:36 – Who do you want Toronto to pick in the 2018 Draft? (in the 15-25 range)
53:15 – Can you say something positive about Zaitsev?
1:03:54 – Hypothetically, where could Matt Martin be traded and what would the Leafs get for him?
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Scott Wheeler from The Athletic joins us this week to go through the Leafs' Top 10 Prospects and break down their seasons. Here's a list of the prospects we discuss:

2:30 - Players who just missed the age cutoff (Johnsson & Aaltonen)
9:46 - Timothy Liljegren (RD)
21:33 - Kasperi Kapanen (RW)
25:59 - Travis Dermott (LD)
30:56 - Carl Grundstrom (LW)
34:35 - Jeremy Bracco (RW)
39:50 - Dmytro Timashov (LW)
42:42 - Eemeli Rasanen (RD)
1:00:12 - Andrew Nielsen (LD), Jesper Lindgren (RD), and Joseph Woll (G)
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Gus Katsaros from McKeens, Maple Leafs Hotstove, and Rotoworld joins us this week to break down the Leafs' play in each zone to help explain why they've been struggling lately. Here's a list of the topics we discuss:

1:08 - The Eye Test vs Analytics "debate".
7:38 - Why have the Leafs been struggling?
13:57 - Toronto's DZ play.
19:16 - The pros/cons of the "flip pass".
27:19 - Breaking down Gardiner & Zaitsev.
45:03 - Borgman's potential.
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Justin Bourne (former Toronto Marlies video coach, currently writing at The Athletic) joins us this week to help bridge the gap between the eye test and the numbers when it comes to analyzing the Leafs' performance this season. Here's a list of topics we discuss:

1:12 - Travis Dermott's potential.
8:15 - Why have the Leafs been struggling with their breakouts?
14:44 - "Staying Above" in the offensive zone (OZ defence).
19:48 - Why you actually should play it "safe" late in a tie game.
23:39 - The role of fighting in the modern game.
29:03 - Frederik Gauthier's improvement & NHL potential.
32:35 - The Mason Marchment Story.
35:26 - How the Leafs can become a dark horse contender.
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In the second half of our Midseason Report Cards series, we go through our grades for the Leafs' defencemen, goalie, and coach. Here's a list of the players that we discuss:

1:30 - Rielly
8:12 - Hainsey
13:15 - Gardiner/Zaitsev
23:11 - Borgman
30:49 - Polak
35:55 - Carrick
42:44 - Andersen
43:53 - Babcock
1:03:24 - Closing Thoughts
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This week we break down Toronto's forwards' performance at the halfway mark with our official Midseason Report Cards. Here's a list of the forwards we discuss:

4:14 - Matthews
8:32 - Nylander
15:24 - Hyman
18:44 - Marleau
25:10 - Kadri
28:51 - Komarov
34:07 - JVR
40:44 - Marner
46:31 - Bozak
52:56 - Brown
1:01:42 - Martin & Moore
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Ryan Biech from Sportsnet650, The Athletic, and CanucksArmy joins us this week to break down our favourite players from the World Juniors. Here's a list of the prospects we discuss:

2:47 - Timothy Liljegren (Sweden, TOR)
9:08 - Elias Pettersson (Sweden, VAN)
12:34 - Alex Nylander (Sweden, BUF)
14:19 - Cale Makar (Canada, COL)
16:44 - Jordan Kyrou (Canada, STL)
22:08 - Sam Steel (Canada, ANA)
23:24 - Taylor Raddysh (Canada, TB)
30:14 - Joseph Woll (USA, TOR)
31:33 - Casey Mittlestadt (USA, BUF)
36:43 - Filip Zadina (Czech, 2018 eligible)
39:26 - Philipp Kurashev (Switzerland, 2018 eligible)
41:32 - Valentin Nussbaumer (Switzerland, 2019 eligible)
45:14 - Samuel Bucek (Slovakia, 2018 overager)
52:07 - Closing Thoughts on the WJC.
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Anthony Petrielli from Maple Leafs Hot Stove joins us this week to break down the Leafs' systems.
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Prashanth Iyer from The Athletic joins us this week to break down the man, the myth, the legend: Mike Babcock. After 2.5 years of coaching the Leafs and 10 years in Detroit, Prashanth and I discuss some of the trends we've observed over the years. Here's a list of the topics we touch on:

1:27 - Grinders getting lots of ice time (Komarov, Abdelkader)
16:20 - Skilled players struggling to get minutes (Nylander, Hudler)
27:35 - Age bias (Kapanen/Leivo, Nyquist/Tatar)
43:46 - But, Babcock's still probably the best coach in the league.
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